English Version:
On the night of April 3, 2019, with endless applause and cheers, I closed my first solo recital ever in my life with great success. “Dying to Revive.” It was an unforgettable night.
This is a recital about “death and life.” I died over and over again in the songs, and I sang my own eulogy. After my dance in this dark hell, I started a journey of revival. As I finished singing the last lyrics from Night of the Sixth Magnitude Star, “After being reborn, I’ll shine on tomorrow,” I finally reached new life. Just as shown on the poster, the first row of black and white photos means “death,” and in the second row there’s a movement from holding nothing to receiving life.
After the concert, when I saw my friends all waiting so long in line to hug me and send me good wishes, I experienced a happiness and sense of achievement that I’d never felt before. I appreciate my voice teacher Jennifer Blades, piano accompanist Andrew Stewart, and my friend Elysia Hempel for helping me make this recital possible, and I’m also so thankful for all of my friends who came to support me. The time you spend on roses is what makes roses so special.
I also want to appreciate all of my hard work behind the stage. I couldn’t believe I learned three new pieces in this half semester, sang them all, and gave a great performance. I think I deserve that night and all of the wishes and applause. But I know there’s still a long way to go.
One of my friends told me, “You are shining when chasing your dream step by step.”
Being prepared and not nervous is the key to everything, and I felt this so strongly on that night. It felt so good for everything to be under control and turn out better than expected. After the performance, a friend said that I have magic, that my songs have a serene power which draws people into their aura. I heard that one of my friends cried halfway through the concert, and many other people told me that my songs made them want to cry at some point. Another friend said that he sank into real darkness, but saw a shimmering light. I never knew that my voice could be that powerful. Aside from all of my surprise, I was very glad that the audience could feel my emotions from my songs.
As a performer, honestly I could not feel the aura and enjoy myself during the performance because I need to think about how to deal with the next place in which I often make mistakes and how to pronounce the lyrics better and control my breath. But when I watched the video the day after, surprisingly, I felt like I was watching another person’s performance, and I became a member of the audience, and I was moved by that singer’s songs. That was the best feeling that from the audience’s perspective; I could feel what I wanted to show, and I felt so moved.
From my conversations with my audience members afterward, surprisingly, all of them said that their favorite song was the Chinese song, Da Yu (Big Fish). Something I wondered about was that most of them didn’t understand the lyrics, but still loved it. Then I asked my professor and she said, “Because this language and this song is part of you.” Suddenly, a conversation that I had with a musician came to my mind. I asked him which was more important: melody or lyrics. I used to think melody was more important, but he said that it’s lyrics. Although the audience may not understand the lyrics, as performers, the goal is to show what we’ve understood. Melody is a tool to help present the lyrics. When I first heard his words, I was surprised but I didn’t understand much. Finally I proved what he said exactly in my own performance.
I die over and over again in the songs, but in real life, my journey has just started.
Coincidently, last Friday was the Tomb Sweeping Festival in China. Showing “death and life” in this concert gave me more thoughts about my own life. Because I’m still alive, I can do the things I love, and make everything possible.
Soon, I’ll start to volunteer at a hospice. At first, I was kind of afraid of this work, but gradually I realized that since I’m so into “life” and “death”, by doing this special job, I might grow and have a deeper understanding of life and death, though the job will be heavy.
Recently, I read a quote from people who work in this field: “You matter because you are you. You matter to the last moment of your life, and we will do all we can, not only to help you die peacefully, but to live until you die.” Till the last breath, life is always an important existence. And this job gives people strength to live. I recalled a sentence, “We should not spend too much time mourning the death. Instead, we should spend more strength to confront our lives. As long as we exist, Death has not arrived; when Death arrives, we are not existing anymore.” As long as there’s still breath, it is the biggest affront to death. Although we are all going to compromise in the end.
I remember that after my grandfather passed away, in front of the crematory’s fire door. My mother said to me that no matter how hard life is and how much you feel that you can’t continue, you can come to see the real farewell. Then you will feel that all the things you thought you cannot endure are not a big deal anymore. It’s everyone’s last station, a little box.
A few days ago I read a sentence: “People die three times in their lives. The first time is biological death; the second time is one’s funeral, which is the sociological death; the third time is being forgotten by the last person who remembered them, and that is the real death.” Thinking this way, my grandfather has still not left me, and people who I’m going to serve will also not disappear, because of being remembered by their loved ones.
After the journey from death to life, I’m just starting on my road.
BY YUWAN ZHANG
TRANSLATED WITH THE HELP OF JULIAN FERNANDEZ
Chinese Version:
2019年4月3日晚，伴随着掌声四起，我成功地谢幕了人生中第一场个人演唱会。“涅槃重生”，如此难忘的一个夜晚。
这是一场关于“生与死”的演唱会。我在歌曲中一次又一次地死去，唱着给自己的悼词。随着在地狱黑暗里的舞蹈，我开启了重生之旅。在唱完六等星之夜里的“重新转生后，相信明天一定会熠熠生辉”，我终于走向新生。正如海报上，第一排的黑白代表着死亡，第二排从一无所有，到获得生命。
演唱会后，看着大家排着队来拥抱我时，感受到了前所未有的欣喜。感恩我的老师Jennifer Blades，钢琴家Andrew Stewart和我的朋友Elysia Hempel的帮助让这场演出变成可能，也感谢所有到场支持的朋友们。正是你们花在玫瑰身上的时间，让玫瑰如此珍贵。
也很感谢一直努力的自己。这学期新接触三首曲目，依旧成功地呈现了这一晚精彩的汇演。我的努力和付出值得所有的掌声和祝福，但明白还有很长的路要走。
朋友对我说，“一步一步追寻梦想的你，是闪闪发光的”。
胸有成竹，在舞台上的胜券在握，以及结果的超乎预期。整场演出最强烈的感受是，“准备充分和保持冷静是成功的关键”。演出后有朋友说，我的歌能有让人安静，并且沉浸在我营造的意境里的力量，那是我的魔法。听说一名朋友在演唱会不到一半时就已泪流满面，也有很多人说，我的歌让他们有时候特别想哭。有人也告诉我，他在我的歌里能沉浸在真正的黑暗里，以及看到黑暗里的光芒。从未曾想象过自己的歌声能有这样的力量；惊讶之余，也很开心听众能从歌里感受到我的情感。
作为歌者，在演出时其实无法完全投入享受意境，因为需要思考下一个易错点该如何渡过，以及歌词该如何更好地发音等等。但第二天当我看自己的录像时，竟奇迹般感觉像在看另一个人的表演；而自己变成了一个观众，被那位歌者的歌曲感动着。能从观众的角度感受到我想传达的，并且打动自己，是最好的结果。
在观众们的反馈中发现，所有的人都千篇一律最喜欢我的中文歌《大鱼》。出乎意料般，因为他们都并不理解歌词，却依旧喜欢这首歌。之后问老师，她说，“Because this language and this song is part of you.”想起之前和一位音乐家的谈话。我问他，曲调和歌词，哪一个更重要。我曾经认为曲调更加重要，但他的回答是歌词更重要。即使听众无法理解歌词，但若表演者能够通过自己的理解和表演来将歌词的情感传达给听众，这就是目标；而曲调是一种辅助表达歌词的方法。当时对他的这番言论挺新奇，这次终于在自己的歌里得到印证。
我在歌曲中一次又一次地死去，但在真正的人生里，我才始启程。
巧合一般，上周五正值中国清明节，这场演唱会通过“生与死”的主题，也让我对自己的生命也有了更多的思考。因为我还活着，才可以做喜欢的事，让一切变成可能。
不久后会在一家临终服务中心进行志愿者服务。最开始对这项服务有些畏惧，但是慢慢想开后，觉得既然对“生”和“死”很感兴趣，通过这份特殊的工作，也许能让我成长，对生死有更深的理解，即使如此沉重。
最近读到一段关于这个职业的从业者的自白。“You matter because you are you. You matter to the last moment of your life, and we will do all we can, not only to help you die peacefully, but to live until you die. ” 即使在生命的最后一刻，也是重要的存在。而这份职业就是给予人们活着的勇气。想起一段话，“不应用太多的时间去凭吊死神，而应用更多的勇气去直面人生。因为我们存在时死神不会降临，等到死神光临时，我们又不复存在了。” 只要一息尚存，就是对死亡最大的蔑视，即使我们终将走向妥协.
想起爷爷去世后，火葬场的炉门前。妈妈对我说，当你觉得生活多么困难，无法继续走下去时，就来火葬场看一看生离死别吧。你就会觉得一切放得下的，放不下的，都不是事了。这都是每个人最后的归属，一个小盒子。
前几天读过一段话，“人的一生有三次死亡：第一次是生物学死亡， 第二次是葬礼，被宣告社会性死亡，第三次便是被最后一个记得其存在的人遗忘，那时才是真正的死亡”。这样想着，爷爷也并没有离我远去；我即将服务的人们也因为被思念着，而不会消逝。
走过涅槃重生，人生才始启程。
BY YUWAN ZHANG
